Just saw The Last Samurai tonight with a friend. Another friend said it was one of the best movies he’s seen. The girl he went with said “I didn’t just see the movie – I felt it” [she was being a bit cheesy, but I know she really liked it]. I’m not sure where I would rank it among the “best movies I’ve ever seen” – but let’s just say it is up there. Definitely included with the Braveheart, Gladiator genre [which reminds me, I’m really looking forward to Troy].
But put the incredible action scenes and a seductive/beautiful relationship played out by Captain Nathan Algren (Cruise) and Taka (Koyuki) aside, and there is still a powerful theme of a country torn between the ways of the ‘modern’ world and the ways of the ancestors, the Samurai. The film made me want to travel to Japan and become a Samurai warrior…and since the chances of that actually happening are quite slim, I’ll just have to be content watching Cruise kick some non-Samurai butt.